Monthly Archives: November 2013

for a lot of people, one of the hardest parts of transitioning to the acne-safe lifestyle is figuring out how to eat. one day you’re happily cooking your macaroni and cheese or tofu stir fries, and the next day you’re not supposed to be eating dairy or soy.

cooking at home is one of the easiest ways to control what you eat, and make sure you’re getting healthy, nourishing food. but, for some of us, cooking doesn’t come, shall we say, naturally.

enter tomato sherpa. tomato sherpa is a berkeley-based company that sources local, organic ingredients, preps meals for you, then delivers it directly to your office (or, you can pick it up at sS on thursdays!) each week they have new recipes (most of which are totally acne-safe) that you can choose from, with vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available. all you have to do is select your meal, pick up your reusable tomato sherpa tote, then cook! all of the heavy lifting is done for you, and you can be sure the ingredients you’re getting are locally grown, sustainable, and organic.

if you sign up for a subscription at tomatosherpa.com/skinSALVATION, you’ll get a free week. there’s no obligation, but at between $7 and $10 per portion, it’s a super affordable (and fun) way to cook at home, so why not do it every week?

i had the chance to try it out last week when my friend vera was in town visiting from new york. i’ve never been a particularly skilled cook, and vera hasn’t turned on her stove in 6 months, but still we managed to make a pretty awesome meal — and have a great time.

check out our experience making vegan curried cauliflower with coconut rice below, and if you want to try this particular recipe yourself, download the recipe card and get cooking!

alongside dairy and soy, studies have shown time and again that foods with high-glycemic indexes are some of the biggest acne aggravators. not only are high glycemic foods inflammatory, their sugars feed the candida yeast that so commonly is found in excess in acne sufferers. keeping your sugar intake low will also help regulate energy levels, lowering the stress on your body.

while you may be diligent about avoiding wonder bread and skittles, what you may not realize is that some of your favorite fruits are loaded with sugar. while we would never recommend cutting out fruit entirely – fruits are full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber – being cognizant of how much sugar you’re actually eating when you reach for, say, a banana is an important part of living an acne-safe lifestyle.

choosing lower sugar fruits is an easy way to start lowering the glycemic load of your diet. choose a handful of blueberries instead of grapes and you’ve saved yourself over 10 grams of sugar. also, whenever possible, choose fresh fruit over dried fruit. fresh mango is, in itself, a pretty high-sugar fruit with 14.8 grams of sugar per 100 grams, but dried mango has 73 grams – nearly 5 times as much as fresh mango, and about the same amount as skittles.

for more detailed information on the types of sugar in different fruits, click the chart above!

generally speaking, try and stick to fruit with less than 10 grams of sugar per 100 grams, and do your best to avoid dried fruits. keep in mind, though, as with everything, moderation is key. while it’s probably not a good idea to have a bowl of fruit for breakfast every morning, there are a lot worse things you could have for an afternoon snack than an apple. just do your best to keep your sugar intake (and by extension your glycemic load) as low as possible and your skin will thank you.